


heavy in your arms

by livmoores



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Heavy Angst, Hurt/Comfort, I would make the argument that it's canon typical violence but the game softened that blow, Implied/Referenced Torture, Inspired by artwork, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Minor Annette Fantine Dominic/Felix Hugo Fraldarius, Minor Edelgard von Hresvelg/Hubert von Vestra, Minor Ingrid Brandl Galatea/Sylvain Jose Gautier, Minor Yuri Leclair/Claude von Riegan, No war only cults, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Soft Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd, Survivor Guilt, Tags more specific per individual chapters, Take Fodlan and make it 2020, When there's a cult all bets are off the table, no beta we die like Glenn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:01:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25439626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/livmoores/pseuds/livmoores
Summary: Following the sound of a beautiful voice, finding a Nabaetan (which are supposed to be extinct) in a cage and breaking her free was probably not the best idea Dimitri had. But hey, he's the King of Faerghus, he can do anything he wants, right?... Right?
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/My Unit | Byleth, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 51
Kudos: 110





	1. something's getting in the way

**Author's Note:**

> i got linked to [this](https://twitter.com/izuu_min/status/1282751649249779712?s=20) BEAUTIFUL artwork and the _fanfic_ potential so here we are, a week later. i could not shake the idea, wound up writing down a lot of notes and developed a story. this was heavily inspired by izuu_min's art, especially in the first chapter. and i just have no words for it???? im so shook by this art?? he l p.
> 
> s/o to everyone in the slyvgrid discord server who helped me with the world building on this. y'all dont even know the notes i took. i took fodlan and put it in 2020 and that required a lot of reworking of the world and w h e w.
> 
>  **trigger warning** implied torture, captivity and human (er, dragons?)/sex trafficking are continuous themes throughout this story. i'll get more specific chapter by chapter. this chapter implies suicidal ideation.
> 
> it's :) not :) happy :) despite sylvain being our much needed comedic relief.

The heat was unbearable.

Dimitri tugged at the collar of his shirt. Twenty-three years of living in Fhrirdiad and he still wasn’t used to the summers (if one could call them that). The past few summers had been above average temperatures and half, if not most, of his summer wardrobe was built for low fifties, maybe sixities if the sun was shining. It was 75 and Dimitri was convinced that they were all going to die inside the conference room they had just been in.

“Do you think I could convince them to move the meeting outside?” Dimitri asked as he continued to fiddle with his collar.

“Hear me out, and I know it’s a wild idea, but how about we get air conditioning?” Sylvain replied as he pulled out a cigar. He put it to his lips, lit it, and took a drag before offering it to Dimitri. The blonde stared at the cigar and shook his head.

“Air conditioning costs a lot of money and we rarely need it.” Dimitri sighed. It was a budget issue and nobody could justify getting air conditioning for the one month the heat was attempting to kill them all. The argument was brought up every summer.

“It’s hot as fuck an you’re telling me we don’t need air conditioning?” Sylvain had unbuttoned the top three buttons of his shirt. “Guess I’ll die from heatstroke then.”

A retort was on the tip of Dimitri’s tongue but he held it back. There was no point in arguing with Sylvain about the heat; they were all miserable. He had insisted on an early lunch to prevent half of them from going to hospital for heatstroke. It made him wonder why the redhead was smoking, considering how the cigar was warm.

With a sigh, he rested his shoulders on the edge and looked out at the city below. It was full of life; people moving, cars honking, and a lot of people holding fans and wearing minimal clothing. Although they would complain about the heat and insist a solution, his people seemed to be thriving and that was what mattered to Dimitri. 

“I’m not sure how Ingrid puts up with you and actually wants to _marry_ you. You’re rather dramatic.”

Sylvain smirked. “Do you really want the answer to that, Your Highness?”

“Please don’t.” Dimitri could protest all he wanted; Sylvain would still answer.

His smirk grew as the cigar dangled from his lips. A hint of red was appearing on Dimitri’s face, which only fueled Sylvain’s chaotic energy. He moved next to Dimitri, mimicking his position on the balcony.

“I have a huge dick and I know how to use it. The sex is _amazing_.”

“Sylvain!” Dimitri stuttered a he recoiled from his friend. He knew if he stopped reacting like a school boy, Sylvain would leave him alone. It was the price of being an easy target.

Laughter echoed the balcony and was quickly drowned out by the sound of singing. Dimitri titled his head and furrowed his brow. The voice was angelic and one he had never heard before. There were no words, only a tone that shifted octaves, and it captivated him.

Ignoring his desire to stay as far away from Sylvain as possible, he moved closer to the edge of the balcony. He was trying to determine where the sound was coming from. It was close but not close enough he could get a general sense of direction as to where to find it.

“Did you hear that?”

Sylvain looked at him with raised eyebrows. He took the cigar from his lip, flicked it to the ground and stamped it out. “Hear what?”

The voice was becoming faint. Dimitri frowned at Sylvain’s response as he looked around. The voice had faded into the distance.

“You didn’t hear it? It sounded like a woman singing.”

“A woman singing? Nope, didn’t hear that. Pretty sure that’s a figment of your imagination. I have got to get you a girlfriend, bud. Then you’ll _really_ know the sound of a woman singing. I, for example, can make Ingrid sing like a canary.”

Dimitri blushed and bit his lip, which only caused Sylvain to laugh. “Will you stop that?”

“Is that what you’re going to tell your future queen? Stop?”

“Stop!”

Sylvain’s laughter only grew and Dimitri adverted his gaze. Despite his friends teasing, he knew what he heard. The melody was latched to his brain, although the chances of hearing it again were slim to none.

“Come on, lunch is almost over and we should head back to the meeting,” Sylvain said as he buttoned up his shirt. “Hey, do I smell like cigar smoke? Ingrid is going to kill me if she smells it.”

“She can get in line, I’m going to kill you first,” Dimitri replied as he sniffed the air. They both smelled like cigar smoke, despite his lack of smoking. Was he going to be honest with Sylvain? Absolutely not. It was payback for the earlier comments. Dimitri shook his head.

“Hot. Thanks bud, I owe you one.”

Dimitri rolled his eye and turned his head to look back out at the balcony as their made their exit. Maybe Sylvain was right, maybe the voice was nothing more than a figment of his imagination.

* * *

The voice was most definitely not a figment of his imagination.

Dimitri heard it later that night as he walked through the halls of the parliament building in an attempt to clear his mind before he went home. It was louder than it had been on the balcony, which meant he had to be closer to the source. He was fighting the urge to investigate. The parliament building had been around for almost five hundred years and was bound to have some creaks that mimicked voices.

Or it was a ghost. That seemed like a plausible option.

The thought made him chuckle as he swung his jacket over his shoulders. He would have to tell Ashe and Annette about it to see their reactions. It would be priceless.

He turned down the hall and was passing the photos of the Shepherds when the melody reached his ears again. Dimitri stopped dead in his tracks and looked up and down the hall. He was the only one in it, given that it was a hallway that lead to a shortcut to get to his house (mansion, though the thought made scowl) that people only used for tours.

Dimitri took a step forward, closer to the passageway, and the voice got louder.

Throwing caution to the wind, he knew he had to investigate. The song was enchanting, even if there were no words, and he found himself unable to tear away. His interest was piqued and there was no going out. He followed the song as it lead him to his normal passageway.

The voice got louder as he shut the door behind him and stared at the fork in the road. One would take him to his home and the other would take him to the castle. The song was coming from the castle, specifically the left entrance. That whole wing of the castle was closed off and under renovation to keep its historical integrity. Nothing was supposed to be there.

A chill ran through his body and he shivered. Dimitri wished he had his fur cloak but had left it at home due to the summer heat. The thought made him snort with laughter - typical Fhirdiad weather to be hot during the day but cold at night. He fished his phone out of his pocket and penned out a text to a group chat.

 **D:** I heard a noise coming from the castle. I’m going to investigate.

 **I:** Dimitri no.

 **S:** Dimitri yes

 **F:** Idiot, Call the guard. That’s their job.

 **D:** If you don’t hear from me in an hour, come get me. (location shared)

 **I:** Dimitri no

 **S:** DIMITRI YES

Ignoring Ingrid’s smart advice, he moved ahead towards the castle. It was dark and only a handful of lights kept it from being eerie. Nobody took the tunnel at night (expect him, like an idiot). As he walked, the voice got louder.

His instincts lead him into the castle and to a door that was bolted shut. The sight made him frown as he studied it. It was locked with four different deadbolts and a chain. Dimitri considered himself lucky that there wasn’t any magic attached to the door.

The beautiful voice was on the other side of the door and he had to get it. Every hair on the back of his neck was standing up; something was very wrong. There should be no sound other than construction coming from the castle and why in the hell was it shut?

It took three seconds and the locks shattered under his grasp. It was one of the few times he was thankful for the Blaiddydcrest. With his stomach turning, he stepped into the room. Dimitri’s heart stopped when he discovered the sound of the voice.

It was a woman but there were _horns_ and a _tail_ and she was in a cage. Dimitri pursed his lips as he studied the figure. After a minute, it clicked – he was staring at a Nabaetan.The horns, wings, and tail gave it away. They were supposed to be extinct. He blinked a few times. No, this was real, and the poor thing was pushed far back against the cage as she could be. Her wings, white and stained with red, looked broken the more she pressed against the cage.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” Dimitri said softly as he stepped forward to get a better look.

The cage looked miserable. It was big enough to accommodate her half transformed body, with the exception of her tail dangling off the edge. She had mint hair that was clinging to her face and barely any clothing. There was something connected to her that he couldn’t make out with his eye in the darkness but it appeared to be keeping her locked in place. Dimitri’s stomach dropped; she was clearly being held captive.

“What do you want?” The woman spat, the terror in her eyes. Even with those four words, Dimitri could tell she was exhausted. “Please. I’m tired. Leave me alone today.”

The blonde couldn’t believe what he was staring at. Not only was she at a Nabaetan that was supposed to be seven hundred years extinct, she was being held prisoner in his own castle. Bile rose up in his throat and he pushed it down.

“I told you I’m not going to hurt you and I meant it.” Dimitri had reached the cage and his hands were wrapped around the metal. “I heard your voice…” he trailed off, realizing how foolish he sounded.

Her eyes widened and she loosened her rigid stance. Her tail twitched and she kept her lips shut. Most people didn’t hear her voice; it was interesting that he could.

“I’m going to get you out of here.”

Before she could protest, he bent the metal with his bare hands and pushed it to the side. Dimitri outstretched his hand to her, noticing that she had frozen in place when he moved the metal. If she told him to leave, he wouldn’t. His feet were planted firmly in the ground and he wasn’t leaving without her.

There was a strained silence between the two as she stared at his hand. Her tail twitched again and she moved closer to Dimitri. Against her better judgement, she gingerly reached out her claw and took his hand.

Dimitri gave her a small smile. “What’s your name?”

“Byleth,” she whispered as she stood up. Her legs were shaky from lack of use and she gripped his hand harder. She gave him an apologetic look, knowing her claw would draw blood. “There’s an IV connected that I can’t reach. It keeps me in stuck in this half form. If you unhook it, I’ll go back to human.”

He didn’t want to let her go, given how unsteady she appeared to be, but obliged. Once he released her claw, she grasped the metal and he moved towards the back. The i.v. was what he had noticed earlier but couldn’t make out (especially with it being dark, given his limited depth perception). The line was long, full of a milky substance that didn’t ring any bells, and attached to the small of her back where her flesh met her tail. She could reach it but wouldn’t be able to take the needle out.

The situation left Dimitri feeling uneasy and on edge. The goosebumps hadn’t left since he wandered into the room. The blonde kept looking over his shoulder and was schooling himself for not carrying a weapon. _You just came from a meeting, you didn’t need a weapon at the meeting, that’s secret service is for_ was what he kept telling himself. But more importantly, what in Sothis’s name was going on? There were many questions that were starting to pile up.

Dimitri fiddled with the IV and winced at how big the needle was. Byleth’s skin was black and blue and he shuddered to think about how many times she had been poked and prodded with this needle. With a quick snap, Byleth yelped as the needle dislodged.

“Sorry,” he offered pathetically as he discarded the needle and i.v line to the side.

There was a flash of blue light. Before Dimitri could process what it was, it was gone. Byleth stood before him but instead of a white claw gripping the cage, it was a human hand. Her tail, horns and wings were gone. She was tiny compared to him. His eye narrowed as he assessed her, not missing how her skin was littered with fresh and healing bruises.

Byleth looked around. She was panicking. It was a look Dimitri recognized well. Dimitri wrapped his jacket around her shoulders and stepped out of the cage, holding out his hand again. He was resisting the urge to pick her up and cradle her in his arms. The woman, Byleth he had to remind himself, might have been fragile but he was convinced she could beat him down with her eyes closed if she wanted to. She was a Nabaetan, after all.

Nabaetan. That line of interrogation and the plethora of questions he had would be saved for another day. For now his focus revolved on getting her to safety.

Byleth took his hand and took a tentative step forward. It had been a long time since she had walked on her human feet. Dimitri was patient even though the anxiety was building in his chest the longer they sated. Whoever was doing this was going to be _livid_ when they discovered she was gone. Byleth regained control of her footing and tightened her grasp around Dimitri's hand.

The pair walked in silence, Byleth blindly following Dimitri’s lead as he ushered her out of the castle. Even though the Blaiddydcastle was nothing more than a museum built to house the Kingdom’s hero's relics, he still knew the secret passageways and best way to get out undetected. The many hours he had spent playing hide and seek with Felix, Ingrid and Sylvain in the castle had come handy.

His neck was going to be sore as he was constantly straining it to look over his shoulder, expecting someone to be following them. Byleth was doing the same. Dimitri recognized her trauma, which made his blood boil. Who had done this to her, and in his own Kingdom, no less? The scowl stayed etched on his face until they made it into the foyer of the mansion.

Against his wishes, he let go of Byleth’s hands to secure the mansion. The alarms and locked doors were bells and whistles, especially with Ingrid and Dedue living with him, but the video footage would be helpful if anything happened and someone tried to break in.

With a click and a thank you from the alarm, Dimitri turned to Byleth, who was staring at the foyer with wonder. The image tugged at his heart and before he could dwell, he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. Dimitri ignored it; Dedue would have find his friends on and see that he was home.

Byleth blinked and winced. This place was bright. How long had she been in that cage? She was vaguely aware that it had been years, given how the clothing style of her captors had changed. She stopped keeping track of time after the first month.

“There’s a lot of rooms and security here. You’ll be safe.” Dimitri wasn’t sure how to address the fact that if anyone tried to break in, it would be considered an assignation attempt. The fact that Byleth didn’t know who he was (or pretended she didn’t know) was a breath of fresh air.

She reached for his hand and squeezed it once their fingers were interlaced. She felt like a child, staring at all the artwork and furniture in bewilderment. She had a running list of questions but kept her mouth shut. Now was not the time and she wasn’t sure if she could trust the man in front of her. Her goal had to been break free of her captivity and she would have taken whatever was tossed her way to do so.

Regardless, the man seemed genuine. It still left her cautious. _They_ had seemed genuine until they slaughtered her people and kept the survivors as captors for nefarious purposes.

Dimitri lead her up the stairs and to the right, back to his wings. There were at least six spare bedrooms and his wing was quitter than the other ones. It also kept her away from Ingrid, Sylvain, Felix and Dedue before he could explain what had happened. He made a mental note to get more female clothing that would be her size. Edelgard had a room for when she visited from Adrestia; it would have to do. Her spare clothing would fit for the time beginning.

His phone was still buzzing in his pocket. He mouthed ‘sorry’ as he unlatched his hands from hers and looked at the messages. Dimitri’s stomach twisted with guilt as he skimmed them; most of them were his friends being concerned and Felix telling them they were being over dramatic. Responding wasn’t important; he would do that when Byleth was settled. The thought of telling his friends what had happened made him more nervous than the woman standing in front of him.

“Sorry,” was Dimitri’s default setting. He stood in front of a bedroom door. “My sister uses this room when she visits. It should have everything you need and her frame is similar to yours so I don’t think the clothing should be too far off.” He scratched the back of his head. When he had followed her angelic voice, breaking someone free of captivity hadn’t crossed his mind. Was he doing this right? “My room is across the hall. I wake up early but please take all the time you need; I won’t leave this wing without you.”

Byleth shifted on her feet. She was getting used to her legs as support, having been stuck in her half form for the better part of twenty years. The dragon legs were stronger but she had also spent most of her time sitting. Her muscles weren’t as atrophied as she expected them to be. She wrapped her hand around the doorknob for more support.

The blonde man made her uncomfortable but everything made her uncomfortable. The desire to run away was strong but her feet were cemented to the ground. Despite her hesitancy and all of her alarm bells going off, she believed the man’s words when he said he wasn’t going to hurt her. For the first time in a hundred years, she felt safe.

That thought scared her the most.

“Will you stay with me until I fall asleep?” Byleth blurted out, startled at her words. Her eyes widened as she stared at Dimitri.

“Of course,” Dimitri responded instantly. The tension in his shoulders relaxed. This was a promising sign. It worked out better, given his lack of sleep. He would have tossed and turned and checked on her in the middle of the night.

Byleth didn’t say anything as she opened the door and Dimitri followed her. The room was darker than the rest of the place. The walls and furniture were darker and she felt more comfortable. The white walls were starting to give her a headache. She moved towards the dresser, her fingers tracing the wood. Tears were threatening to spill over.

For the first time in years, she was free.

She turned her head back towards the taller man as she opened the dresser. “What’s your name?”

“Dimitri.”

She knew the name but she wasn’t sure how. It had been brought up in various conversations with her abductors but that was all she knew. Byleth had developed a habit of tuning them out when they walked into the room. Going numb and ignoring them was the only way she was able to cope and not take one of their scalpels and slit her wrists.

“Thank you, Dimitri.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> meanwhile, sylvain is screaming at dimitri because "WHEN I SAID YOU NEEDED A GIRLFRIEND I DIDN'T MEAN BREAK HER FREE FROM SOME FUCKED JAIL"


	2. something's just about to break

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> look i know 75 (23) isn't hot for pretty much everyone but myself. but i am an alaskan. bears? tsunamis? volcanos? earthquakes? ok bet. heat? no thank you, i am dead.
> 
> with that being said,i treat faerghus temperament/visual to be like alaska. we have harsh winters (-20s anyone??? this winter sucked), decent summers, tundra, sprawling cities, etc. obviously everyone has their own opinion but that's why mine is the way it is. i write what i know my dude and i know that 75 is hot for me lmao
> 
> thank you so much to wonderinghero for your feedback on this chapter! it would not have been finished without you and i would still be banging my head against a wall.
> 
>  **trigger warning:** in combination with the general themes of abuse, captivity, trafficking and mental illness, there's specific mentions of rape kits, panic/anxiety attacks and suicidal ideation.

After Byleth had lulled off into a (what he hoped was) a peaceful slumber, he had texted his friends back and requested that they all meet him in the press room. It was secure and hidden enough that Dimitri could trust it. Given the Byleth has been jailed in his castle, he knew his former classmates were the only group of people he could trust.

Dimitri was pacing back and forth in the press room when Dedue stepped in. The blonde offered the taller man a weak smile and Dedue remained emotionless. He would have already gone through the security camera footage from the front door. At least Dedue had more tact than to start acosting him. 

That mantle would be reserved for Ingrid and Felix, who followed moments later with Sylvain right behind his fiancé. He was half awake, a coffee in his hands. Ingrid was fidgeting with the concealed gun on her hip and had a baguette in her hand. Felix was the most awake out of the three (Dimitri was sure he hadn’t slept in three months with the baby) and he looked bored. Dimitri knew better; he was assessing the room for any threat. 

Dimitri thanked Sothis that the three secret service agents were on his side. Ingrid, Dedue and Felix were deadly and did their job well. 

As Sylvain grumbled to Felix about the time, Annette and Mercedes came into the room and took a seat. Annette looked exhausted with heavy bags under her eyes. Mercedes was the most awake out of everyone and Dimitri was glad he hadn’t pulled her away from a night shift; he would need her medical help later. Ashe was the last one to enter, his uniform half on and his hair standing up, looking frazzled. 

“Sorry, sorry, I just got off work,” Ashe apologized as he took a seat. Dimitri waved him off. 

“I’m just glad you could make it. I know it’s early.” Dimitri scratched the back of his neck as he looked around. The group was all there and he could begin. His hand started to tremble with nerves.

Dedue shut the door, deadbolted it, and all hell broke loose.

“I almost sent the entire fucking guard after you! Dedue had to hold me back!” 

“Did ya get laid?”

“What the fuck is this about, boar?”

“It is rather late, Your Highness.”

“You didn’t say no! I bet he pulled us all here to tell us he got his dick wet!”

Sylvain was bouncing with glee and the table groaned. Dimitri knew better; his friend was poking fun for a reason. It was a good way to break the tension considering how he hadn’t answered his phone for a couple of hours and then called them to an emergency meeting. He would have to thank him later. In private, with no witnesses, so he couldn’t mention it again and people would believe him. 

“Sothis, that’s not what this is about. And even if it was, I wouldn’t tell you!” The blonde pinched the bridge of his nose. “I wouldn’t have done this if I didn’t think it was serious, okay? We all made a pack back at the officers academy. If we ever needed each other, we would do this. Time and place, no questions asked until then.”

The room went silent.

The pact wasn’t something that was brought up. It had been a silly thought, some five years ago, on the eve of their graduation. The Blue Lions were going their separate ways for the foreseeable future and none of them (despite what they presented) were comfortable with the idea of letting their family bond go. It had been used two times over the years, not including Dimitri’s coronation: the night Ashe got shot on the job (which lead to most of them working out of Fhirdiad), the day Sylvain had a freak out over asking Ingrid to marry him (minus Ingrid) and today marked lucky number three.

“You found something in the castle.” It wasn’t a question. Sylvain’s brows knitted together as he looked at his friend. “Didn’t you?”

Dimitri chewed at the inside of his cheek and intertwined his hands. 

“What are you talking about?” Annette asked.

“Look. What I’m about to say cannot leave this room. I brought you guys in because I trust you with my life and something is very wrong,” Dimitri began, “I heard a voice earlier today. It was a woman singing. Sylvain said it was a figment of my imagination and I believed him, except I heard it later when I was walking past the artwork of the Shepherds.” 

When nobody interjected, he continued. “It got louder as I got to the passageway that splits between the castle and here. It was coming from the castle, specifically the left side of the entrance.” 

“That’s been closed for renovations for months.” Mercedes mused, speaking out loud. 

“The sound brought me to a door. It was bolted shut in three different places. There was no magic, thankfully.” The blonde paused. He was toying a delicate line. Should he tell his group that she was a Nabaetan? Would they believe him? Dimitri barely believed himself and he had seen it with his own eyes. 

Swallowing hard, he decided against that tidbit of information. It was too much on an already ridiculous story.

“There was a woman in a cage. I couldn’t tell you how long she had been in there, only some time based on her bruises. So I… broke her free. And she’s currently in El’s room.” The last two sentences came out in a hushed whisper, leaving no space between words. 

“You did  _ what  _ now?”

Ingrid was the first to break as she stared at Dimitri. He looked down. Even with the baguette in her mouth (which would have made him laugh in a different scenario), he couldn’t handle the judgement in her eyes. 

“Someone was being held prisoner in my castle! What was I supposed to do?”

“Call the police?” Ashe suggested. He knew why Dimitri wouldn’t have done so. As far as the grey hair man knew, he was the only police officer he knew and trusted.

“At least call Dedue!” Annette interjected. 

The room erupted into chaos and Dimitri cradled his head in his hands. He wasn’t sure what he expected. 

Mercedes and Dedue were the only two not engaged in the discussion. Dedue was in his usual stance, close enough to Dimitri where he could jump in front of a bullet in a second but far enough away that he wasn’t smothering him. Mercedes was leaning back in her chair, her focus shifting between Dimitri and the rest of their former classmates. 

Maybe telling everyone had been a bad idea. He could have eased everyone into the conversation, starting with his childhood friends (and Dedue). Then he could have brought Mercedes, with Ashe and Annette being the last. Dimitri had rushed into telling them because he was scared of the implications of what this meant. 

The thought almost made him snort with laughter. 

He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong. One person in his castle was bad enough but he knew, without Byleth having to confirm, that there were more secrets within the walls of his Kingdom. 

_ Can’t even see the problems in your kingdom. You’re a terrible king.  _

Dimitri winced at the sound of Lambert’s voice. He had been suspiciously quiet throughout the whole ordeal. It wouldn’t be long before Glenn and Patricia followed suit. Knots formed in his stomach as Lambert got louder. 

_ Look at you, you can’t stay in control. _

His vision was narrowing. He tried to focus on a pen in the middle of a table but found his eye wandering. His chest was starting to tighten and it was getting harder to breathe. All thoughts of focusing were tossed out the window. Dimitri gripped the edge of the table as he tried to recollect himself. Sweat was starting to drip off his forehead and he felt cold despite the rigorously temperature controlled room. 

_ Weak pathetic useless this is a waste of time nobody believes you you’re making this up because you can’t handl-  _

There was a loud crack and a piece of the table was in Dimitri’s hand. 

“Shit, sorry,” he fumbled, still awkwardly holding the piece of wood. He placed it down on the ground next to his feet.

“Your Highness said shit. We are all going to die.”

Dimitri blinked as he looked at Sylvain before his head ducked down again. He was wearing a smile and sipping his coffee. The blonde hadn’t realized the room had gone quiet after he broke a piece of furniture. He grimaced at the flood of light and grabbed the water bottle Dedue had put in front of him. His throat was parched and he was ready for this conversation to be over. Having an anxiety attack and listening to the voices of his dead father in the middle of it didn’t help his case.

“How concerned about this are you?” 

Felix’s voice caused him to snap his head back up. It was a valid question. Dimitri knew he was overly concerned about the situation and his vision was clouded by a hero complex he couldn’t shake. He chewed at the inside of his cheek and pondered Felix’s question.

Removing Byleth from the equation was difficult. She was the reason he discovered there was an issue but he couldn’t focus on that. If Ashe had come to him and mentioned that something was suspicious, would he have looked into it? Yes. If it had been someone in his parliament that confided in him? That was the million dollar question. Dimitri wasn’t sure. He would chalk it up to party differences and trying to sabotage each other to secure a vote.

He needed evidence beyond a reasonable doubt. Byleth was that evidence, Nabaetan aside. How could he explain the creeping feeling of anxiety that accompanied her presence? How could he explain how broken she looked without them seeing her? Dimitri considered himself to be eloquent with words but found himself stuck. 

“It’s been a few hours and I’m still sick to my stomach, Felix. I can’t shake the image out of my brain.” His fixation on memories was something he worked on in therapy. When it happened now, it caused his friends to double take. “I can’t explain it. I really can’t other than this sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach and sense of impending doom.”

“How do you know it’s nothing more than the typical Fhirdiad criminal?” Ashe countered.

“I don’t.” Dimitri knew it wasn’t that easily explained, given the I.v and the resources used to store her in the castle. “But even then, they would be part of something bigger. The part that gets me the most is the location. There are a plethora of places to hide someone in a cage without being detected. Why the castle?”

Nobody had an answer. Dimitri wished they did. 

His eye scanned the room and he landed on Felix’s scowl. Dimitri recognized the scowl well; it was the one Felix wore when he knew something was wrong and he had to believe his King. If the situation wasn’t rife with implications, he would have laughed at his friends' disdain.

“I hope you’re right about this.”

* * *

Byleth had been scrubbing her skin raw in the shower for an hour in the shower and she still didn’t feel clean.

It was her first shower in years, probably leaning more towards a decade. Her captors threw water on her and only scrubbed her down when she needed to be presentable and dolled up for prospective buyers. Within ten minutes of being deemed “unbuyable,” they would strip her down and shove her back into her cage. Being clean was not a luxury.

She had been alive long enough to know that she was experiencing a significant amount of trauma. She had checked to make sure the doors were locked four times before getting into the shower and had stepped out of the shower twice to double check. Every sound left her on high alert, bracing for an attack.

Byleth sighed as she scrubbed the soap off her skin. The hot water was nice but it wasn’t doing the job. She turned off the shower, grabbed a towel, wrapped it around herself and got out. She shivered when the cold air hit her body and turned to the mirror. She wasn’t sure what she was looking at.

Her hair was too long for her liking, past her breasts, and her pointy ears stood out. She made a face as she leaned in closer to the mirror, assessing herself. There were no bruises or marks on her face ( _ we need to make sure your face stays pretty and unmarked) _ but the bags under her eyes were prominent. Her skin was gaunt and her cheekbones stood out. How long had it been since she had a proper meal? 

Byleth’s stomach grumbled in response and she snorted with laughter. Food would be a delicate balance and she knew she would be lucky if she didn’t throw it up. Byleth shuddered at the realization. Just because she was free didn’t mean she was going back to the person she was before this. That was over centuries ago and that girl was long dead.

She took a deep breath and tried to recollect herself as she changed. The clothes were a little too tight (his sister must have had a smaller frame and most certainly a smaller bust) but they would do. The over-sized sweatshirt was a nice bonus, as it hid her figure. The surface level of trust she had for Dimitri was just that - surface level. He was still a man.

The memories made her twitch. No, she was safe. Nobody was touching her. Nobody was shoving a needle into her skin and nobody was punching her for being defiant. 

_ “And if I’m going to be honest, I think she’ll kill herself before I get her to a doctor.”  _

Byleth turned her head and chuckled. The blonde man (Dimitri, that was his name) was down the hall, walking with another person she didn’t recognize and his assessment was accurate. If he brought her to a hospital, she would find the nearest weapon and end her life. 

It was alarming how easily she thought about suicide.

The footsteps were getting closer; it wouldn’t be long before they were knocking on her door. She stepped out of the bathroom, still wincing at the light, and made her way back to the comfortable bed. Byleth knew that once she was comfortable she would be able to sleep through the night ( _ how much did that bed cost?) _ but the idea of feeling comfortable and safe seemed far fetched.

She picked up the book she had been pursuing earlier as she heard a knock on the door. Byleth criss-crossed her legs and said nothing as the duo stepped in.

“How long have you been awake?”

_ Long enough _ . 

“I woke up right after you left.”

She was a light sleeper and had woken up as soon as the door shut. She had given him two minutes before she followed him out the door. Her ulterior motive had been locating a gun for protection but she followed the sound of his frantic footsteps to a room that had a name that eluded her. “I followed you to your, uh, I’m not quite sure what it is,” she added as she brushed her hair behind her left ear, revealing the pointed tip. “I have excellent hearing and I don’t sleep much.”

She stifled a laugh at how his face blanched and the woman next to him refrained from smiling. It was the price of her anxiety. As soon as the door shut and she was left alone, she was on high alert and ready for any threat.

Yet Dimitri surprised her. When she accepted his hand, she expected he would confess her true nature to someone. During the meeting he had held his tongue and focused on the bigger issue of captivity. He was a curious creature and it intrigued her. His words meant nothing but his actions were starting to speak volumes. It was  _ alarming  _ how, even in some six hours, she was starting to believe he wouldn’t hurt her.

Byleth dog-eared the page in the book she wasn’t reading and looked up. The woman next to Dimitri was dressed in scrubs, her hair pulled back into a low bun, and made her extremely nervous. Her palms started to sweat. The blonde haired woman didn’t have a medical bag, no tools, no scalpel and wasn’t holding a needle. Byleth knew she needed proper medical care. If Dimitri trusted this woman then she could too.

If only it was that simple.

Dimitri introduced her and Byleth felt ill. Her assessment had been right; she was a doctor and she was here to look her over. It was necessary and logically; Byleth knew she needed it. Her fight or flight was starting to take the reins. 

“Can he stay?” Byleth asked. She wasn’t ready to be left alone with this stranger, despite her best intentions. 

“Are you sure?” Mercedes paused. “I’m giving you a full physical and a rape kit. It’s not going to be comfortable.” She didn’t miss how Dimitri’s hands clenched and Byleth froze. Her heart ached for the woman. 

Mercedes looked at Byleth and then back to Dimitri. The look in her eyes mirrored the one Dedue wore in the springtime. He had nine years to heal; this woman had mere hours. Mercedes had years of perfecting the art of breaking through barriers, given how stoic and un-expressive her husband was, but she was concerned. The doctor could finally comprehend Dimitri’s anxiety and running into the situation head first.

“Dimitri, I really think you need to sit this one out.” Mercedes chose her words carefully. Calling him by his birth name was a deliberate decision. She hoped that it would cause Dimitri to realize how serious the situation was. “I know you’re concerned but this is about Byleth and her safety, not yours. I can’t do that with you pacing back and forth and blushing over seeing her naked.”

The King started to stammer and Mercedes raised her eyebrows. He was proving her point. She turned her attention back to Byleth and offered a soft smile.

“I know you don’t trust me. I wouldn’t if I was in your position. I promise I will only do what’s necessary to make sure we can get you back on your feet and go from there.”

Byleth grabbed the book and hugged it to her chest. The book was becoming security and gave her hands something to touch. It quelled the flight response and allowed her to breathe. Her head was less foggy and she looked up at Dimitri.

“I think I’m in good hands.” Her voice was quiet and she didn’t believe herself. Byleth wasn’t convinced the other two believed her. “Will you stay close?” 

“I’ll be right outside.”

Byleth didn’t respond and the door swung shut. She elected to stay silent as Mercedes pulled something out of the corner of a room. It was a med kit. Byleth frowned. A first aid kit in a room made sense but this had an oxygen tank, nasal canal, blood pressure cuffs and a bunch of i.v lines and empty bags. She shuddered.

The supplies Mercedes had pulled out was not what someone typically kept in their bedroom. She scooters back up on the bed and braces herself as Mercedes came closer to her.  _ Dimitri is right outside, you’ll be okay. She won’t hurt you. She won’t hurt you, she won’t hurt you, she won’t hurt you _ .

Byleth could repeat it a thousand times and still wouldn’t believe it.

The stethoscope was cold against her flesh and she flinched. Byleth could hear Mercedes speaking to her, going over the process about how she was listening to her heartbeat, was going to check her blood pressure, oxygen levels and pulse, and so forth. If she wasn’t so frightened, she would have made a joke about how medicine had come such a long way since she was born. 

If Mercedes noticed her high heart rate, she didn’t say anything. Her hands (soft, not calloused and caked with blood) touched her face. Byleth clenched her fists in effort to prevent her from punching Mercedes square in the jaw. She was getting used to Mercedes’s gentle touch and her chest wasn’t feeling so constricted.  _ Everything will be okay _ . 

Byleth was starting to believe herself. She was still guarded because just because Mercedes didn’t hurt her now didn’t mean she wouldn’t pull a fast one on her. She had allowed herself to get lost in her own thoughts when Mercedes touched her wrists and the anxiety bubbled over.

The tears came crashing down and her whole body started to shake. Her vision was lost, barely focused on a bruise on her knee, and her head was starting to throb. The blood pounded in her ears and her hands started to tingle. Her windpipe felt like it was being crushed as she tried to ground herself. It was impossible. Her body was shaking so violently and the tears were coming so fast she thought she was going to be ill.

Mercedes words were muffled and barely registered. Byleth’s body was paralayzed. She wanted to reach out, to scream, to do  _ something  _ that would break her free from the memories that were overwhelming her. Byleth could smell the singed hair, rotting corpses and blood. Her world was on fire and there was nothing she could do about it. 

Her vision went black as she succumbed to the darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sylvain is still wondering just how hot this girl is if dimitri is _this_ concerned
> 
> ps i got a [twitter](https://twitter.com/oliviasmooress) and we should be friends


	3. i will try to find my place

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> s/o to the slygrid discord server ([join here!](https://discord.gg/Audf2f4)) for helping me flesh out ideas/putting up with my bullshit. i could not have developed this world building without y'all.
> 
> **trigger warning** specific mentions of human/sex trafficing and death of loved ones.
> 
> as always, please read this chapter with care.

Dimitri had lost track of time. 

He had spent the first twenty minutes or so pacing outside Byleth’s door before he realized that was a waste of time. Mercedes was thorough and it would take more than twenty minutes. He had opted for moving to one of the living rooms that was right next to the room. Mercedes would find him when she was done. She had spent many hours in his house and knew his favourite haunts well.

_ Breathe. _

It was the only thing he could do. There was no point in being anxious about what was happening upstairs (but that didn’t stop him). Byleth was in good hands and Mercedes would give him an honest opinion of what was happening. The thought made him ill. What was happening? Dimitri racked his brain for answers. His mind instantly went to the worst scenarios possible; cancer, too much damage to her internal organs, etc. It revolved around Byeth not living for more than a week. He kept reminding himself that Mercedes would tell him what happened as long as it didn’t break patient confidentiality and it was likely not as bad as he made it out to be.

An hour had passed before Dimitri realized he was staring out a window, looking at the water wash up on the gray sand. The lake had been a fixture in Dimitri’s attempts to relax since he started therapy two years ago. When he was overwhelmed, his eye drifted towards the lake and he focused on the water and the way it moved. His heart-rate was back to a normal rhythm and he was in control of his crest. It lulled him into asleep most nights but with his senses in overdrive, he would take feeling calm and not breaking something in his grasp.

His phone buzzed in his pocket. Frowning, Dimitri pulled it out and sighed. It was a meme text from Sylvain, something he could ignore. It was four in the morning and there was no need to respond (not that he responded to most of Sylvain’s memes, anyways). Taking the sign, he slumped back down into his chair and started scrolling through his emails and newsfeed.

Nothing in the news caught his eye. It was the same thing, a different day. Paparazzi had gotten a hold of what Ingrid and Sylvain’s cake would look like at their wedding, someone had a medical breakthrough on a flu vaccine, and they were preparing for an incoming storm, to name a few headlines. He chuckled at the image of the wedding cake. Sylvain had leaked the photo and it was a fake. The redhead loved the media attention. He played it well.

Dimitri shifted his attention to his emails. Over half were meeting reminders and the rest were proposals to laws he would look over. He was in the process of deleting his spam when a title caught his eye. 

_ Busted _ .

The email was flagged as spam and if Dimitri hadn’t broken Byleth out of the castle, he would have ignored it. Words like “busted” and “you suck” and death threats were common emails. His palms were sweating as he clicked open. 

_ I know what you did. I recognized the Blaiddyd _ **__ ** _ strength on my cage. Only you could do that.  _

His blood ran cold. His crest was common knowledge, as was everyone’s who had one, so that made sense. The cage would have a distinct mark of “I was ripped apart by someone with immense strength.” It wouldn’t take much to put together that he, the King with the famous crest of Blaiddyd, would be the culprit of the broken metal. The sentence was subtle and showed that this was real. This wasn’t spam and couldn’t be chalked up to typical ominous death threats.

Dimitri’s phone dropped out of his hand from the sweat that had built up from his anxiety. It was for the best because if it hadn’t, he would have broken it. Any sense of calm he had developed in the past hour was thrown out the window. Too many people had his email, especially the generic one for the public, for him to narrow it down. I.T. wouldn’t be able to glean anything from the email and where it came from. 

With a sigh, he picked his phone back up and switched screens. Dimitri was a bundle of nerves and when he tried to think, his mind went blank. His therapist would call it sensory overload. What was he supposed to do when he felt like that? His therapist’s advice on how to handle it was running blank. He was becoming numb. Numb was easier than processing his emotions. Numb meant feeling nothing and it was what he welcomed.

“Dimitri?” 

He wasn’t sure how long he had been sitting there, his mind empty and his body limp. He turned his head to see Mercedes standing in the doorway. She looked exhausted and Dimitri wasn’t sure if it was physical or emotional exhaustion. Probably a combination of both. He gestured for her to take a seat next to him.

“How bad is it? With what you can tell me, at least.”

Mercedes sat down, folded her hands across her lap, and frowned. “I had to give her a sedative. I expect she’ll wake up tomorrow afternoon but from what I could tell, she needs that sleep and hopefully, she won’t have nightmares jolting her awake.”

Dimitri pursed his lips and sighed. He had expected something of that nature to happen. It also explained why Mercedes hadn’t taken as long as he thought she would. How much time had passed? He checked his watch; two hours and twenty minutes. 

“That bad?”

“That’s putting it lightly.” Mercedes paused. She was trying to be tactful with her words but there wasn’t a way to broach the subject lightly. She twirled a strand of her hair, a nervous habit she had picked up during her med school years. “But I need you to tell me the truth. What are you protecting her from? I noticed in the meeting you skated over it.” 

He chuckled. “Caught into that? You’re smarter than the rest of us.” Dimitri took a deep breath. Mercedes was a doctor and knew that something wasn’t normal with Byleth. Out of the inner circle, she was the most likely to believe his discovery with no questions asked. “She’s a Nabataean. I know they’re 700 or so years extinct but I found her half transformed. She said whatever was hooked up to her made her stuck halfway.” 

“Ah.” 

Mercedes was lost in thought. She may have been a woman of science but she also had a hard time grappling with the idea of an extinct species. Magic wasn’t supposed to be real but she had been using Faith-based healing magic for a long time. It just wasn’t as common as modern medicine. Healing magic worked better for minor scrapes and bruises and an energy burst. The idea of a Nabataen existing among them was plausible. It explained her slower heart rate and pointed ears in addition to the horrific bruise at the small of her back that Mercedes couldn’t figure out the reason for. 

“That makes more sense.” 

How was she going to address the delicate topic of her suspicions? Although it was blurring the lines of breaking patient confidentiality, she knew Dimitri deserved and needed the truth. 

“I had a patient come in about a week ago with similar injuries. The only thing that was different was the bruise on the small of her back. After some coaxing, she told us the truth. She’s been sex trafficked for four years. Byleth wears the same marks.”

The colour drained from Dimitri’s face. He realized that Byleth had clung onto him like her life had depended on it and that was because it had. It was the way she walked and kept looking over her shoulder that made him realize they shared similar horror stories. The concept of her being a trafficking victim never crossed his mind despite the signs. He had gone to a plethora of meetings with advocates to recognize the signs and how he could better help survivors as the King and face of Faerghus. He rubbed his index finger and thumb together as he mulled over Mercedes’s statement.

“I don’t know if it was sex trafficking but it’s definitely trafficking. And given what you said about her being a Nabataen, that makes more sense. It’s been rumoured for centuries that their blood has magical properties.” Mercedes sighed. “She’s got various stages of healing bruises and I can tell that her bones have been broken in the past but nothing current. I want to do an x-ray and an MRI but I need her to consent to that and be comfortable enough to get her into the hospital.”

“That’s going to take a while,” Dimitri replied, his voice quiet. He was trying to process the gravity of the situation. It weighed heavily on his heart. “What’s her physical health overall? I know her mental health is fragile.”  _ Like mine  _ was unspoken.

Mercedes shrugged. “It’s mediocre. She can walk on two feet but she’s weak and I’m assuming anemic. I want her to get physical therapy to strengthen her muscles. Leonie would be someone you could trust and she wouldn’t ask a lot of questions. I think she’s been in that cage longer than you think she has, maybe longer than she remembers. I can draw up a plan for her caloric intake to make sure she gets food without getting ill. I healed a handful of her visible bruises so nothing is obvious, which should help.” 

She leaned back in her chair. There wasn’t much to add on. Any injuries after that would be internal and require more diagnostics than basic healing magic and a complete physical. Byleth’s issues, a word Mercedes used lightly, were not physical. It was emotional and that would require the most attention. She thanked Sothis that it was Dimitri who had found her. He was going to be the most understanding about emotions and the whiplash that would follow.

“Thank you,” Dimitri finally spoke after a period of silence. He bit his bottom lip. “I still don’t know how to explain it, let alone justify it, but I feel safer knowing she’s here and I want to get to the bottom of this. If you saw something in the hospital last week and then Byleth appeared tonight, there’s more to this story and I don’t like it.”

“Anytime, Your Highness.” Mercedes gave him a gentle smile. “I know what you mean. It’s hard to wrap your mind around without seeing Byleth but the terror in her eyes is alarming enough. I haven’t seen someone carry that weight since, well, you.”

Dimitri didn’t rebuttal; Mercedes was right. Accepting his post-traumatic stress disorder was one of the hardest things he had learned to do and he still struggled with it and would probably struggle with it for the rest of his life. The thought made his stomach drop when he realized Byleth would be in a similar boat. He could only pray to Sothis that she was stronger than he was.

“How long did you say before she wakes up from the sedative?” 

“Probably a day.” 

Dimitri nodded in understanding, his eye focused back on the lake. It was going to be a long twenty-four hours.

* * *

“Come back to bed.”

“I have to provide for this family.” 

“You’re a congressman living on the dime of your grandfather who is the president. The only providing you need to do is to me.”

Claude chuckled and pressed a kiss to his boyfriend's forehead before continuing to get dressed. He was in the middle of pulling on his pants when Yuri tugged on his belt loop and pulled him back to the bed, a grin on his face as he planted kisses in the crook of his neck. 

“You could ignore that meeting,” Yuri said in-between the slow and deliberate kisses he left on Claude’s collarbone. “I’m not quite sure why you’re going to this meeting. You’re jumping through hoops, despite your connection to the King, in an effort for what, strengthening relationships?” 

“I’m on the foreign relations and military defense committee and I have a charm that can’t be refused. It’s a routine meeting after something like that, I guess.” A moan escaped his lips. Claude could feel his eyes glazing over at Yuri’s touch. When his lips pulled away, Claude regained his senses and jumped out of the bed. “Judith said it was important. I really gotta go. Don’t you have a meeting to get to?”

Yuri shrugged nonchalantly as he rolled over to the left side of the bed. He grabbed his shirt that was hanging from the lamp and wondered where the rest of his clothes were. As soon as they had gotten into the hotel, they wasted no time in tearing off each other’s clothes. They had been together for over a year and their honeymoon phase hadn’t faded, at least in terms of sex. He pulled his shirt over his head and started looking for his socks.

“Yes but mine is just with investors and the one after that is product quality since I haven’t had a chance to tour the lab since I bought it a few months ago,” Yuri replied as he put on his socks. “I’m the owner, I can meet them when I please. As much as I would love to tempt you back into the bed, you have a timeline.”

“You’re the one who was trying to get me back into bed,” Claude teased as he finished putting on his shirt and cuff-links. They were yellow, obnoxious, and gaudy, just the way he liked them. He leaned in and pressed a kiss to Yuri’s forehead. “Tease. I’m going to be late. Dinner? Five?”

“Yeah, I’ll be free by then. Let me know how the meeting goes. Please don’t do anything reckless.”

Claude laughed. “What, like the shit you pulled last week?” Yuri glared and Claude laughed louder as he finished tying his shoes. They were black and too shiny but given that he was meeting with the equivalent of the department of defense chair., it was for the best. He needed to look like the Congressman he was. Faerghus was more traditional in their clothing, a custom that Claude tended to ignore. He usually had two buttons undone and his sleeves rolled up but not this time. He readjusted his tie and loosened it. “Don’t worry, I think this lady will kill me with her stilettos if I do anything out of line.”

Yuri paused as he tried to figure out what to say. He was aware that Claude was meeting with Cornelia, a lady who had slept her way to the top. Yuri had never met her but knew of her through various whispers and connections he had to the Kingdom capital. There had never been anything good to say about the woman. The best compliment she had received was that she was ruthless and did whatever she could to achieve her goals. There was nothing direct about what he heard (nothing along the lines of she had killed anyone or directly engaged in blackmail(, just enough to cause the hair on the back of Yuri’s neck to rise.

“Call me when the meeting is over, okay?” He finally spoke, his voice soft and his purple eyes full of worry.

There was a retort on the tip of Claude’s tongue but he decided against it based on Yuri’s concern. He had heard questionable things about the woman as well but figured it was also Kingdom politics. Claude couldn’t count the number of times someone printed a scandalous article about him. Yuri knew more about the politics of the Kingdom and their inner workings. Claude returned the soft smile.

“Yeah, I’ll call you when the meeting is over.”

* * *

“You’re late.”

Claude checked his watch. The meeting was at 8:00 a.m., and it was 8:01 a.m., the hand having just turned. Her tone was cold and dismissive which already raised alarm bells. He knew that the people in the Kingdom were punctual, but a minute late?

“My apologies, Miss Armin,” Claude replied as he took a seat and leaned back in his chair.

He had seen photos of Cornelia Armin but it was different in person. She had strawberry blonde hair, perfectly curled and bright blue eyes that were cold. Her make-up was minimal but hid her wrinkles. Her clothing, while as minimal as her makeup, offered another distraction. Her whole persona was a distraction from the aura of uneasiness she had. He had thought Yuri was overreacting when he asked for him to call him after the meeting but now he was starting to understand. Her demeanor had nothing to do with Faerghus politics. 

“I don’t have time for tardiness nor your pleasantries. I’m a busy woman.” She sipped her drink (he could smell the vodka, which almost made him laugh considering how it was eight in the morning and the woman was drinking  _ vodka _ ). “Let’s cut to the chase. We were engaged in a routine exercise in Charon along the border. Part of that included climbing Arcalod. A weapon misfired due to careless actions. I am terribly sorry that one of your soldiers died but per compliance with the Charon-Daphnel Peace Treaty of 1873, you were supposed to notify us when you were within five miles of the border.”

Cornelia pulled an envelope out of her bag and slid it across the table. Claude picked it up and pursued it before asking questions. His alarm bells were ringing; something wasn’t right. The documentation showed the string of emails between the Major-General of the Faerghus Royal Air Force and the Major-General of the United Leicester Alliance, confirming that Faerghus would be skirting their borders for routine military training. It happened every year. The email chain was a formality. 

“As you can see, we did our due diligence. It would reflect poorly if it was reported otherwise.”

“Okay, no, we’re rewinding this conversation.” Claude flipped through the pages. He was intimately aware of what had happened due to classified briefings and Holst’s recounting of the mission. “Stop trying to spearhead this conversation. This is a dialogue between two professionals trying to figure out what happened. I never, nor has my media, said you were at fault. President von Riegan has already called it a tragic accident and holds no grudges, nor plans on retaliating, for what happened. It was an honest mistake, so why is Faerghus so defensive?”

Cornelia tilted her head to the side and raised an eyebrow as if she was appalled that Claude was questioning her. He almost snorted with laughter; most people rolled when it came to her. Claude was not most people. Surely she knew that? Or was it part of her grand plan? Claude was the master tactician and yet, Cornelia was holding the upper hand and he wasn’t sure why outside of the fact that she had caught him off guard.

“Defensive? Do not put words into my mouth. I wanted to make sure all the facts were correct. The United Leicester Alliance has a history of  _ rushing  _ into things without looking at the bigger picture,” Cornelia answered as she looked at her fingernails, indicating her boredom with the conversation.

Claude chose to ignore the remark on ULA’s history. That was a bait and he refused to take it. “This meeting was about figuring out what happened to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Everyone has said it was a mistake; that has never been debated. Yet you come in with evidence to make sure your claims are backed up and I came in here assuming this would be nothing more than a formality to showcase that yes, we are aware of the tragic death and we are trying to go forward and prevent it from happening again.”

The more Claude spoke, the more the gears turned in his head. When the meeting had appeared on his calendar, he didn’t question it. Lysithea controlled his meetings and scheduled his day down to the last second. When he asked her about it, she said it was a last-minute request and didn’t question it. Claude should have questioned in. He didn’t get last-minute requests for meetings, let alone ones that required him to travel to a different country. He had the King’s phone number - if it was that important, he would have called. President von Riegan had told him he had talked with Dimitri the night of the incident and all was well.

When Cornelia didn’t respond, he continued. “So what you’re telling me is that I took a three-hour plane ride just to be told to get our ducks in a row and make sure we aren’t slandering your country?” He rolled his eyes. “Don’t play me like a fiddle, Miss Armin. That team was fifteen miles from the border, therefore negating any need to notify Faerghus military. Additionally, there was only one solider on Arcalod.”

That was the part he didn’t understand. There wasn’t a unit; it had been one soldier who was donning the uniform of the UAL army. Holst mentioned that the uniform was from two years ago and out of commission. It was an odd detail but it stuck to Claude’s mind. He knew that the overlap of uniforms lasted for six months, so why was this soldier wearing an old uniform? Why had they climbed the mountain? The latest theory was that they had suffered a psychotic break in the middle of the night and decided to climb to escape. It wasn’t the first time an infantryman had experienced such a fate. Claude winced at the memory of what happened six years ago.

“It is unexplained how that soldier got halfway up the mountain, ten miles from their post, and was caught in a ‘happy accident’ from a Faerghus soldier's weapon. Training exercise or not, it’s suspicious that  _ one  _ soldier was killed. Your soldiers would have recognized the heat signature as a human and not as a threat,” he voiced his opinion. Claude knew this meeting was a lost cause. Cornelia had expected him to be thrown and he was. He cursed himself for that.

“I believe you’re focusing on the wrong problem, Congressman. You’re focused on Faerghus’s firing of a weapon when you should be asking why  _ your  _ soldier was on the mountain. You mentioned that it was unexplained. Perhaps you should be focusing on your own internal trifles instead of making sure everything smooths over. I merely provided documentation to show you that, per your expression, all our ducks were in a row,” Cornelia said as she polished off her drink. She tapped her nails against the table.

“With no forewarning, soldiers will shoot first and ask questions later. They heard a startling noise and assumed the worst. Demonic beasts are rumoured to patrol the mountain.”

“Demonic beasts haven’t been confirmed on that mountain in a century,” Claude fought back. Demonic beasts were folklore parents told their children to avoid running into the woods. “They’re a fairytale.”

“Faith magic is supposed to be a long-forgotten skill yet some doctors are blessed with that knowledge.” Cornelia leveled her gaze with his and Claude fought the urge to twitch. “You would do well to remember that demonic beasts haven’t been confirmed on Arcalod in over a century in your history, not yours.”

Cornelia flipped everything back on him. There was no use in trying to fight back. Claude knew when to throw up the white flag and surrender. It left his ego bruised but more determined than ever. Something was wrong, very wrong, and he was going to get to the bottom of it. He couldn’t do that in **** Fhirdiad so he bit the inside of his cheek and held his tongue. 

“Anything else?”

“No, I believe that is all. Take care now.” She waved her hand and dismissed him. 

Claude stood up from his seat, grabbed the files, and shoved them into his briefcase. They would be tossed into the fireplace in his hotel as soon as he got back. A shower sounded good, too. It wouldn’t wash off the grime that would linger on his skin from meeting with Cornelia but it was better than nothing. The symbolism worked well for Claude. 

“Don’t let the door hit you on the way out,” he replied as he turned on his heels and walked out, a smug smile on his lips. He felt immense satisfaction by getting the last word in even if it held no impact on the woman.

When he stepped out into the street and the door shut behind him, Claude pulled out his phone and penned a text to his boyfriend. He made a mental note to talk to Yuri about what he specifically knew about Cornelia. He shuddered at the thought and continued walking as fast as he could away from the cafe. It had lasted twenty minutes and a tension headache was starting to develop the more he tried to recount the meeting.

Before the questions could start cropping up and he could write them in his notes app on his phone, Claude’s phone rang. He picked it up on the second ring, already knowing who it was without the caller I.D.

_ “I’m calling bullshit on your text.” _

Claude continued walking, weaving in and out of people, and sighed. “I’m not discussing this right now.” The ‘over the phone’ was implied. “We can talk more about it later tonight.”

_ “Are you okay?” _

The question made him pause. Was he okay? Physically, yes. Emotionally? That was a different story. Claude reckoned that he was okay he was just rattled. It had been some time since someone had rattled him to the extent Cornelia had. She was smart and knew how to twist people’s words, which was dangerous. Outside of her actions, there was something about the way she held herself that made him sick to his stomach. There was only one other person who had caused him to react like that before Cornelia.

“Yeah, I’m okay. It was off-putting, that’s all.” Claude stopped at the stop-sign and flagged down a taxi. He was three blocks away from the cafe and didn’t feel like it was far enough. Derdriu might be far enough away from her and the keyword was ‘might.’ “What about your meeting? Shouldn’t you be in that too?”

_ “I was worried about you.”  _ Yuri sucked in a breath on the other end of the line and Claude knew he was refraining from saying something. He said nothing and waited for him to continue as he slid into the taxi and mouthed his address off to the driver.  _ “I’m glad you’re doing alright, all things considered.” _

“Yeah yeah, get back to your meeting. I’ll talk to you later. Love you.” 

_ “Love you too. I’ll see you at dinner.”  _

The phone hung up and Claude sighed as he leaned back. He had twenty minutes alone with his thoughts before the taxi pulled up to the hotel. He clenched his briefcase, closed his eyes, and replayed every scene of the meeting in slow motion in his head. As he pieced together each part of the meeting, there was only one conclusion he could say with certainty. 

Something was very wrong in Faerghus. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i just really love the idea of claude and yuri and i've never written yuri before. i've written a bit of claude but ????? words
> 
> for those wondering, the ideology behind fodlan exists as such (with some leeway because it's fiction and i do what i want)  
> faerghus = constitutional monarchy   
> united leicester alliance = presidential constitutional republic  
> adrestia = empire
> 
> [let's talk on twitter](https://twitter.com/oliviasmooress) where you can see me have a breakdown over dimitri's feh gear.


	4. you take the pain i feel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **trigger warning** pstd, panic attack, mentions of vomit. 
> 
> past mention of dimitri/marianne for those of y'all with a notp but it's like one line. i'll try to mention them as they come up.

For the first time in years, Byleth didn’t dream.

Dreaming wasn’t an accurate description; she wasn’t plagued by nightmares or being forced awake for another medical procedure. It was quiet, blissful. When she saw the doctor (Mercedes, that was her name, she had to remind herself), she would thank her. She quelled her panic attack and allowed her to sleep. When Byleth had felt the needle prick into her arm, she had been terrified. It was only when she had closed her eyes and allowed herself to succumb to the medicine did she feel content.

How much time had passed? Hours? Days? Byleth didn’t know. The more she thought about it, the more she realized she didn’t care. It wasn’t long enough. It was the first of what she hoped were many dreamless nights. If only she was that lucky.

Byleth heard Dimitri before she opened her eyes. He was breathing louder than he thought he was and it was almost annoying. She laid in the bed with her eyes closed for a couple of minutes as she tried to recollect herself and her surroundings. The blonde had done a physical exam. Byleth wasn’t sure what she found; she wasn’t sure if she cared for the answer. What was more important was the other blonde, curled up in a chair next to her, who appeared to be reading a book based on the turning of pages.

“Your breathing is loud,” Byleth said, the words leaving her mouth before she could bite her tongue. Her eyes opened and she shifted her position on her bed to stare at the person next to her.

“You’re awake!” Dimitri appeared startled. He bookmarked his page and set it on the bedside table. “How are you feeling?”

“Fine.” It wasn’t a lie. She felt fine for the moment. It was likely to change as the hours went on. “Why are you here?”

It was a valid question, even if Byleth didn’t want to know the answer. She had known him for a total of six hours (likely more, given that it was light outside and she felt somewhat rested) and she felt comfortable around him. That scared her the most. She pulled the blanket up around her shoulders and curled into it.

“I told you I don’t sleep much,” Dimitri admitted sheepishly. He ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know, I didn’t like the idea of you waking up and having a panic attack over not knowing where you were. I’ve been in that position before and it’s not pleasant. I also figured I am the person you’re least likely to put a knife to my throat upon waking up.” 

She huffed a laugh; he was correct. Her sense of security was warped in front of the strange man. Additionally, she was starting to piece together that there was something off about him. She recognized his mental scars but there was something physically that held her back. Her gut was telling her that if she pulled a knife on him, she would be dead within seconds. Dimitri held power - she just wasn’t sure what it was.

Byleth watched him with a quizzical look on her face. The pieces of the puzzle were coming together as the moments drowned on. It was the way he held himself and the way he dressed that gave it away. A pit of anxiety formed in her stomach and her heart started to race. She had been too focused on escaping to realize it. She jolted out of the bed, suddenly wide awake.

“You’re the Exalt.”

“Exalt?” Dimitri laughed. “We haven’t used that term in about six hundred years, maybe more.” His eye went wide as the realization washed over him. “Oh. Please, please still call me Dimitri. This changes nothing.”

Byleth frowned and shuddered. It was nothing against Dimitri, it merely reminded her of the last time she had been free. Had it been that long ago? When she had been skimming through the history books, she hadn’t caught the time gap. The formalities she used to use were running through her head. Did she bow? What was she addressing him as? He insisted she called him Dimitri, which almost made her chuckle.

The comparison was almost startling, but she would keep that secret to herself. 

“You’re of royal blood. That feels… improper.” 

“Please don't. I beg of you,” Dimitri pleaded. “You’re a guest in my house.” Dimitri paused, unsure of how to broach the subject. “Plus right now, we are equals. I worry that having a proper title might cause you to feel threatened and triggered by a hierarchy where you’re not in control.”

His words hit her like cold water being splashed on her face. That was something she had not considered but he was correct. If she was left alone with her thoughts for too long on the subject, she would spiral. It was not something she was keen on doing again. She turned her head away from Dimitri, back into the pillow. 

“I apologize if I upset you.”

“Must you nobles always be so damn formal?” 

The retort was quick, natural, and a memory of her past life. It left Byleth feeling ill. She barely knew Dimitri. Would he be offended by her jesting at him? She bit her lip and slowly turned her attention back to him. She was expecting a blank face or a scolding but was greeted by the sound of Dimitri’s laughter. 

His laughter was infectious. Byleth found herself smiling. She resisted the urge to laugh. She might have been slightly comfortable but knew she had to be on guard with Dimitri. She had to be on guard with everyone. Just because he reminded her of a person of her past didn’t mean he was the same person, though the likelihood of them being related was high the more Byleth thought about it. 

“You might think I’m teasing but I stand by what I said.” 

“I would expect nothing less. I encourage everyone to speak their mind and that comment was well deserved,” Dimitri replied, the smile never leaving his face. He was glad to see her feeling comfortable enough to complain, even if it was fleeting.

Byleth didn’t respond. They fell into silence as she tried to regain her thoughts. The fact that he was the King didn’t bother her as much as expected. It appeared to give her comfort. If he was willing to go this far for her without knowing her, then he was likely to believe her when she confessed her history. His title meant nothing to her.

Did it bring a dynamic she was uncomfortable with? Yes and no. The yes was because she knew nothing about him other than his title, which meant he was related to someone she knew. The no was because she was a damn Nabaetansand would beat him in a fight. She was safe in that aspect.

The question was gnawing in her mind. What did the doctor find? Was there something she needed to be concerned about? Was she pregnant? The last thought was unlikely but possible. Everything in Mercedes assessment was potentially a worse case scenario. It also caused her force the reality of what had happened to her. It made it real. 

Byleth didn’t want it to be real. 

“Did your doctor find anything?” she finally asked, knowing she had to face the music. 

Dimitri paused then sighed. “Enough that I told her the truth. If there’s another person you can trust, it’s Mercedes.” He watched the colour drain from Byleth’s face. He reached out a hand to her and she flinched out of the way. “Sorry. But from what she could tell, nothing was glaring. You’re extremely malnourished. She’s going to develop a meal plan for you. She also recommended physical therapy to regain muscle strength. When you’re ready, she wants to get an MRI and x-ray to make sure there’s nothing internally wrong.”

Byleth stared at his outstretched hand. The flinching had been an involuntary reaction like she was bracing to be hit. His gesture was gentle.

_He’s not them. He’s not them. He’s not them. You’re safe. You’re safe._

Her eyes darted towards the trash can next to the bedside table. She jumped out of the bed, hunched over, and spilled out the contents of her stomach. 

Within seconds, Dimitri was pulling her hair out of her face, which caused her to cry in between dry heaves. Her body had relaxed into his touch. Her mind was screaming at her to be prepared for him to wrap a garotte around her neck. Why had she panicked at his outstretched hand but when she was vomiting she welcomed his touch?

“Do you need me to call Mercedes back? Do you need anything?”

Time, time, and more time. She needed a belief that people weren’t out to hurt her. She needed to know that when Dimitri reached out a hand, it was out of kindness, not to backhand her. Unless someone gave her a legitimate reason to believe they were going to injure her, she had to believe nobody would hurt her. It was easier thought than done. Besides, it had been a handful of hours. It was unrealistic to accept a change that quickly.

“It’s okay.”

It wasn’t okay. They both knew it.

Byleth dry-heaved one more time and wiped the corners of her mouth with her sleeve. She didn’t care that it was disgusting that she was crawling back into bed with bile tinted saliva on her sleeves. The bed was safe. Byleth tore away from Dimitri and crawled back into the bed, immediately covering her body with the blanket. She could feel Dimitri’s gaze piercing through her exterior and she hated it. Was she that much of an open book? Yes, she realized, she probably was. Who flinched away from an outreached hand? 

“Please don’t lie to me. If it’s not okay, I want you to tell me. I won’t be offended by your requests,” Dimitri insisted. 

“It’s not that.” Byleth knew that Dimitri was a kindred soul. Their trauma was different but similar enough that she believed his words were genuine. “It’s… it’s just complicated. I feel like I’ve already told you enough.” _More than enough_ was implied. A thought was on the tip of her tongue but held back by the rumbling of her stomach. “I think I need to eat.”

“I can arrange that.”

Against Dimitri’s better judgment, he held out his hand again for her to take. Byleth stared at it and fought the urge to recoil. Her head was starting to throb and she knew that if she stood up, she would be dizzy. Having his support to lean on as she walked would be welcomed. Ignoring the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, Byleth reached out and took his hand.

He interlocked their fingers as Byleth moved to regain stability. Slowly and carefully, she moved her legs and leaned her weight into his as she stood up off the bed. Her legs felt like jello and she wasn’t sure if that was from the anxiety or malnutrition. She sucked in a breath as she tried to let go of all her worries.

It was, as expected, easier said than done. 

Her chest felt constricted. It was getting harder to breathe. Her head had begun throbbing the urge to vomit was strong. There was nothing in her stomach and she abhorred dry heaving. She was getting tired of the whiplash. One minute she was okay with Dimitri, the next she didn’t want him anywhere near her. It was getting exhausting. 

Byleth let go of his grasp and slumped back into the bed. 

“Please leave.” Her voice was barely louder than a whisper. She curled into the sheets and looked away. “I can’t. I can’t do it right now.” The tears were starting to spill over.

Dimitri was taken aback. He blinked a couple of times as he stared at her before regaining his thoughts. He took a few steps back to give her some space. 

“Of course. I can send you some food up here if you want?” 

Byleth nodded. Dimitri pulled a phone out of his pocket. He had picked up the burner phone earlier in the morning. It was unlocked and had two numbers programmed into it: Mercedes and his. He set the phone on the bedside table next to her book.

“Do you know what a cell phone is?”

“I was held captive, Dimitri, I wasn’t dead. I know what a cell phone is. I paid more attention than you’re giving me credit for,” Byleth replied harshly. She knew it was unfair to snap at him but by this point, she just wanted him out of her room. The longer he stayed, the more the anxiety settled. 

“When you’re ready, I programmed my number and Mercedes into it. I’m here if you need me, no matter what time, alright?” 

Byleth pursed her lips. He was the King and had other obligations. If she could avoid it, she wouldn’t be bothering him for a while. The room she was in contained a computer, which meant she could do research. There had been flickering moments of freedom where they updated her on technology and showed her how things worse.

It was an effective torture tactic. She was shown everything she couldn’t have. She pushed the bile down her throat. She kept her gaze adverted and only looked up when she heard the door shut. Byleth was alone with her thoughts. 

“Dammit.”

She never expected to live. Half of her expected that she would still die soon. Reintegrating society was going to be a lot harder than she expected.

* * *

_“As part of a skirmish along the border of Faerghus and….”_

“Lady Edelgard, are you sure this is what you want to listen to?” 

It wasn’t but Edelgard nodded. Most of the time, the important news and affairs of the Empire were relayed to her by Hubert and Dorothea. They trimmed the fat and disregarded anything that didn’t have to do with specifics. Upon hearing what had happened in the border, Edelgard’s interest had been piqued.

“There’s something wrong with their reporting. I can’t quite place it.” Edelgard pursed her lips as she leaned back in her chair. “I know it doesn’t concern the affairs of the Empire and should be disregarded but it leaves me uneasy.” 

Hubert nodded in agreement. He paid attention to the news all around Fodlan and their closest countries. Most of the news was routine and easily disregarded. This was none of those things. Faerghus and Leicester trained their military well. A mistake like that would not happen, no matter how young the solider was. There was a reason they sent Empire soldiers to Faerghus for training every year. 

“I concur. The Faerghus soldiers are the best and would not make such a careless mistake. And it appears it was brushed off so quickly.”

“Dimitri and the President are close. It makes sense that it would be brushed off, although I imagine the two of them are still discussing to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Still, it’s careless and that doesn’t sit right, as you said.” She twirled a strand of brown hair as she looked to Hubert. “Do we know if anything is housed at the mountain?”

Hubert shook his head. “There’s a Royal Air Force Base for Faerghus there. A handful of our soldiers are stationed there but that’s it. No weapons, no technology, nothing outside of the routine base. I believe most of the weapons and technology development comes out of Fhirdiad.” 

“Huh.”

It was the only thing Edelgard could say. She rubbed her temples, feeling a headache coming on, and moved the stack of papers to the far end of the table. 

“I think I’m going to call Dimitri.” Before Hubert could protest, she held up a hand. “I haven’t talked to my brother in a while so catching up will be nice. If something is wrong, he will give it away without directly telling me. He’s a notoriously bad liar.” 

“What if he doesn’t know about it? It only happened a few days ago,” Hubert countered. While he didn’t believe it to be the case, he was looking at it from every angle.” 

Edelgard scoffed. “I know you know better than that. That would require immediate attention. Hell, even _you_ woke me up after it happened so we could make sure everything was okay and didn’t require action on our part.” She pulled her phone out of her pocket. “You’re dismissed, Hubert. I’ll see you for dinner.”

With a bow, the older gentleman took his leave. Edelgard let out a long, drawn-out sigh as she pulled up her phone contacts, scanning for Dimitri. Once his name popped up, she clicked the FaceTime option. Although she would never admit it out loud, she was proud that he had developed better lying skills. It would be harder to hear his tells over the voice, which is why she opted for video.

_“Hi, El!”_

Dimitri waved at her. He looked exhausted, his hair was disheveled, and his eyepatch was slightly askew. Edelgard knitted her brows together as she studied her step-brother.

“You look like shit. Have you slept at all?”

Dimitri ran a hand through his hair. _“Is it that obvious? No, it was a long night, but it’s fine. I got wrapped up in reading financial proposals.”_

“Ah.” Edelgard believed him but she was still suspicious. That was her nature. She propped her phone against a soda can so she didn’t have to keep holding it. “You overwork yourself.”

 _“Says the girl who pulled an all-nighter a few weeks ago to meet a deadline. I haven’t seen you that exhausted since we were at the Academy.”_ Dimitri laughed. _“But you’re right. I plan on taking a vacation soon, should Dedue find an appropriate time for that without seeming like I am ill or something of the sorts. You should do the same.”_

“I have a lot to do and am not comfortable with the idea of relying on my seconds to handle it all,” Edelgard replied with a shrug. She was a type-A personality and the thought of letting someone else act as a proxy Emperor left her uneasy. “But that’s not why I’m calling. I’m calling to see how you’re doing. I imagine you’ve been busy with what happened at the border.”

Dimitri shrugged on the camera. _“Busy but manageable. Other than that, I’m fine.”_

He was lying. Edelgard could see it in the way the corner of his mouth tightened as he spoke. He was doing his best to ignore their eye contact by pretending that someone was coming through the door. The brunette made a mental note of it. 

_“What about you?”_

“I think I’m doing better than you,” she teased. While she had been obvious in their younger years, she couldn’t let Dimitri know she knew something was off. “But fine overall. Hubert and I had our second anniversary a few weeks ago. We went to the opera. It was beautiful. Is there a new lady in your life?”

Edelgard watched as a faint blush crept on Dimitri’s cheeks. His one, and only, girlfriend was Marianne von Edmund and that had been when they were at the Academy. Despite their best intentions, the relationship didn’t last. Her step-brother threw himself into work and disregarded romantic affairs. It had been easier for him to do so after the death of his father. Since then, the answer was always the same. 

_No, El, I’m not seeing anyone. Why do you keep asking? I would tell you if I was!_

When there was no protest, she raised an eyebrow and leaned in closer to the camera. That was suspicious. 

“Dimitri. Is there a new lady in your life?”

_“No.”_

His response was too fast. She stared at him, noticing how he shuddered, and Edelgard smirked. Even though the video, her stare made him uncomfortable.

 _“I’m not lying either, El. I promise. I’ve just been busy. Sylvain keeps talking about setting me up, that’s all.”_ Dimitri’s voice was even and the blush had disappeared. 

“If you insist.” 

Edelgard wasn’t going to pry. While the Sylvain answer was plausible, she wasn’t sure if she believed it. Between the reports on the news and how Dimitri was acting, Edelgard had a reason to be suspicious. Was it as malicious as she thought it was? Perhaps. She tended to lean towards the worst possible scenario. 

The sound of a door shutting echoed through the phone. Dimitri looked up (seriously this time) and frowned. 

_“Hey El, I’m sorry to cut this short, but I gotta go. Talk soon.”_

He didn’t give her a chance to say goodbye. The screen went black as it ended the call. Frowning, Edelgard took her phone from its position against the soda can and penned a text to Hubert. 

_Prepare the jet for tomorrow. We’re going to Faerghus._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi! so i am sorry for the long delay in update. i've written hubert and edelgard once before and it takes me a minute to be convinced in what I write with them. because of that, I rewrote this whole chapter like five times and felt like nothing was good enough. i hated it all. I'm working on a delicate balance between addressing specific issues while making sure it feels natural. and the reality is I am still working on trying to make sure some of these really heavy topics are handled appropriately so that takes awhile. i finally got a chapter I was happy with for the progression of the story! yay filler chapters, lol.
> 
> I'm losing my mind at work (coworker is out for three months) and am extremely overworked so I am tired pretty much all the time so I expect a bit of a delay between the next update but I don't expect it to be nearly as long! hope everyone is staying safe.


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